[Suggestion] Shield Version of Carapace - Cyborg

In my opinion health is stronger than shield, so a shield version of Carapace could be implemented. It could have some interesting uses like combining it with shield capacitor or shield bubble for fast recovery. Also It would combo well with engineer since they recover their shields sooner.

The problem is that it makes you much less tanky since you can't use med kits or other health regeneration sources. I think there should be bonuses included in the implant like faster shield recharge time, bonus shield, or shield recovery when something happens. Maybe make the shield regen timer start faster, or give shield back on kill or assist, I don't know. Also I would prefer if it was easy-ish to get, unlike carapace.

Heres some other cool names I thought of:
Bulwark, Android, Fortify, Shield Specialist

TL;DR Title says it all. Is it too good? Too weak? Seems interesting to me, especially if you add a fun mechanic.

ALL your health as shield? So EMP is lethal?

You could make the implant grant 999 shield and 1hp so that EMPs arent leathal. But it would really suck to get EMPd with all shields.

I would personally love an implant that does this. It would be extremely similar to Halo in that you are pretty much dead if you lose all your shields.

Sounds interesting! I approve!
Would be awesome not having to run regeneration or stick near medics!

Auraxium the emp grenade, FINALLY

That would be a really interesting implant; it's a unique idea, makes for a great parallel to Carapace, and has great combo potential.

1. It would give vets a real reason to run Advanced Shield Capacitor again.

2. It synergizes extremely well with Assimilate, Safeguard, and Ocular Shield.

3. It gives solo players the option of using this and a different tool instead of medkits.

Question! What would happen if I picked Cyborg and Carapace together? XD

you get 500 hp and 500 shield

So a rapid-regenerating shield layer over the smallest amount of health.
The moment you stop being shot, you are at full health.
The moment you die, you need to reach cover, as a medic is near useless.

You come back like the devil, at full health, the moment shields start to regen nearly.
Carapace at least needs a medic or some healing method to recover.
Shields do not.

Medics with the shield regen device would be very valuable to people with this implant.

Is only LordKrelas here sane?

Shield is vastly superior to health. Shield regenerates after 6 seconds (4 for Engineers!), and regenerates faster than healing equipment does with the exception of being directly healed by a high level medgun or using nanite sticks.

This implant would kick Carapace's butt from here to the other end of the game, then back again only for it to beat it to a pulp and drop it over the continents edge. But for some reason you guys think that expendable/situational healing equipment (the only stuff that can match or surpass shields) is superior all the time...?

I personally don't think shield is vastly superior to health, and let me give you a few reasons. For one thing, It takes multiple seconds for shield to even start to recover, while health can be recovered instantly and at any time with a medkit, restoration kit, or medic abilities. Also, a single EMP will completely drain shields. The only way to restore shield without relying on the automatic shield regeneration is through a medic's shield bubble, assimilate which only gives 200 on headshot kill, or the advanced shield capacitor which still relies on the automatic shield regeneration. These are all situational at best.

What LordKrelas fails to mention is that shields do not recover instantly and it takes quite some time. The quickest shield recovery in the game is the engineer with advanced shield capacitor which is already trading off all defensive suit slots and combat abilities like heavy shield or medic heal. This engineer would take 7 seconds to recharge his shield assuming his shield capacitor was maxed. If the engineer had 999 shield and 1 health, it would take 10 seconds. A carapace medic on the other hand can regenerate all their health in around 6 seconds, and this regeneration is not stopped by damage. The fact that a carapace medic can regenerate health the moment they take damage and while they take damage is what makes them so strong. They also have enough regeneration to recover around 600 additional health on top of their max health if they take damage while regenerating.

Technically you are correct. If you have 0 or 1 health and you haven't died, you will always be at full health, but your shield is different. If you take damage you will keep that damage until your shield starts to regenerate.

I'm not sure what you mean. If you die, you die. Depending on how this implant works, you might be unable to get revived, or you might be revived with 1 health. The only use a medic would have is their shield bubble and revives if they can do it.

Technically yes you would be revived at full health, but your shield is what matters. First you would have to wait for the shield regeneration to start, which takes 4 seconds for engineer or 6 seconds for everyone else. When the regeneration starts, with advanced shield capacitor equipped, it takes 3 seconds to recover 500 shield. If the person has 999 shield, it would take 6 seconds. So if an engineer had this implant it would take 10 seconds in total to regenerate their shield from 0.

Shields require a delay of at least 4 seconds to recover, and the recovery rate is limited. But they do have the benefit that this recovery doesn't require nanites spent or medic abilities.

Outside of the occasional HA doing an ADAD dance, most times medkits or medic abilities aren't required for battle purposes. EMP would be it's biggest bane, but EMP's also happen to be one of the most underutilized OP weapons I've ever seen in a game. Sure it would hurt if you got hit by one, but the benefit of that fast, unlimited and no equipment required regeneration will be vastly superior. Carapace health is only useful in context. "when I use a medkit", "when I have a Medic". But C4 is more useful most of the time unless you are farming KD and trying to keep alive as long as possible.
I'm not saying that medkit chugging or using teamwork with a Medic are inferior, I'm just saying they are far less omniversally useful compared to converting almost all your health to a shield.

If you are using the Carapace in this Medic fashion, people have already figured out that using a HA with overshield gives you similar benefits but without the possibility that you can't regenerate as much health because they kill you fast enough. Medic AOE heal is also time limited, and can only be utilized by the Medic in this way unless you have some hefty teamwork going on. So other classes would still be better off with the shield version. And should the Medic run out of energy he can be royally screwed.

thats be insane! i'll be running it for sure! 500 hp and 500 shield! imagine it!
until then i'll be forced to play with just 500 hp and 500 shield

It's perfect for the Infiltrator who always begrudged not having that last 100 shield.

Shields regenerate by themselves incredibly fast.
When you take cover, you are not being shot; This means you begin shield recovery.
If you lose sight of someone, you would have to count the seconds.
And if you adjust this shield to recover fast, have less delays or similar, every engagement of peek-a-boo is against a full-health opponent even quicker.

The trade off for basically never needing a medic, beyond revives, is being dependent on finding cover.
While the trade off for carapace is the lack of any regenerative barrier.
Carapace gets shafted here.

Full-health.
Health is of 2 parts, Shield layer & Health Layer.
if your 'entire' health is 99% shield, full-health is the moment your shields reactivate.
So not an oxymoron, just you not getting the point.

EMP + Damage.
Yay, lets ensure EMP grenade spam to actually keep a target's barrier down for... what 6 seconds?
Anything past that, they recover.
So unless you nuke yourself, you basically have the enemy with most of their shields back.
"You picked Shield ammo, but I ran Carapace"
"You didn't have Shield ammo, I win"
Lets make that possible? Seriously?

Your health keeps that unless in allied territory or using a Regen implant out of combat.
Your Shield is a lot less Picky, and recovers much faster without external input.

If you die, the medic is only for the revive, but has no use for the user.
Whom unlike Carapace, isn't dependent on an external force to make use of the incredible capacity for recovery.
It also means, Shield Bubbles if found now are the Godly amplifiers from hell.

Yes the shield matters.
It recovers faster, and easier than health.
It needs nothing to recover, and only can be sped up, unless shot at.

Health has a 0 regeneration rate without an implant, Bio Lab in friendly land, or medic.
Shields are a constant factor in battle, due to having even half of that shield back is a grand difference.
The enemy would have to ensure to engage any such target in under 10 seconds or fight a fresh opponent.
So at 4 seconds, they'd already be better than anyone without a Medic.

They benefit from the rapid recovery.
The lack of Shield bar indicator.
The perfectly timed independent recovery period & delay.
The independence from Medics or Recovery items.
The amplification from Shield Bubbles - Which do not cost Energy.

Dependence on Medics vs Dependence on None.
As well, it frees all implant slots.
Anything that adjusts Shields would also ramp it up further.



Like say the main post here.
Where it wants add-ons to boost that recovery, faster recharge times, more shields than baseline replacement.
And not be on the same tier as Carapace...
So you'd have an easy time getting a Rare-Class Implant that unlike the original has no dependence on any class or item for full capability
Then recall the wanted boosts on top of that by-default-stats of said implant.

Like do you even read the suggestion?

I have never seen shields go from empty to full instantly. Also, I meant that a weapon would do "extra" damage, and increase shield delay temporarily (while negating shield recharge from other sources). That aside, what are you doing that you can't finish off your target within 6 seconds? Players can immediately pop meds around a corner for another round to get a leg up, even more with carapace. Heck, a player using this implant would have to think twice before throwing an EMP of their own.

The thing about medics, in my experience, I have been revived less than two dozen times, currently BR61. They almost never help you.

That extra damage being apparently enough to warrant being used.

Being far enough that 6 seconds, the EMP grenade, or shots that did the damage, can't be followed up due to Cover, or sheer distance.
You know, the Distance between you & target?
Or do you throw an EMP, or fire a shot, and your target becomes brain dead to not move?

That's why Squad play with Carapace, is where Carapace shines. Medkits are limited, and not as effective.
Hence why Squads with Carapace have medics per Heavy, as the Combo is brutal.

Only if they throw an EMP near themselves, which are barely used.
In addition, the few with that is an Infil to begin with: Whom is more likely to cloak & engage then run in.
Or you know, not be the ones entering the room affected by it.

You never are in a squad then, nor have reliable medics.
I've been a 70+ on my Characters.
I rarely do not get a revive, and when I don't, I still get heals, and that's solo.
In squads, unless you have a **** squad, your medic actually knows when it is best to revive.
Implants are not designed for Solo Play, they must consider actually having.... Support in a team game. Magic.